To ask what should happen now? DD attacked by other students

[RainInNovember]

DD is 15, shes had a few issues with people, got into a few arguments, nothing major and mainly over whatsapp etc, she does seem to get involved in the drama. But a lot of her friends are similar and there are often fallings out but then friends again the next week.

I just had a message from dd at school. she said two girls who she used to be friends with have waited outside her lesson for her and followed her. once she was on her own they put a coat over her head and started punching her in the head and pulling her hair and dragging her about.

she has told school and she said the girls are currently in isolation, I have called school who said they're investigating now and will call me back shortly.

I have never dealt with anything like this before. I just want to know what to expect and how seriously they should take it.

@RainInNovember you're doing the right thing. The police will be far more use when you have clear information about who did it, how and when it happened, and who the witnesses are.

You will have far more clarity about what the police plan to do if they visit your daughter when she's home and in a calm environment that you can witness. And anyway, the school day is finishing any time now.

My DD was cornered at school by three other girls (who were supposedly friends), accused of things she hadn't done, verbally abused while the perpetrators filmed it and put it on social media.

I phoned the police on 101 as I was concerned about it being on social media without my DDs consent. There wasn't anything the police could do unfortunately however the school were excellent. The Head sat down with me and DD and talked to us about what her options were for managing the situation with the other girls and so my DD felt she had some control of the situation and was able to choose whether she wanted to have any contact with the other girls or whether she wanted them kept away from her. I think the school discussing it with her so openly, taking her views and feelings into account and not sweeping it under the carpet was really helpful.

You also need to be certain that no counter allegations can be made and that it wasn’t over something illegal that your DD could get into trouble over.

Exactly

It is yes

Put in a subject Access request for CCTV they may try to argue that they cannot so so as they would be releasing the private data of others' ( which is accurate) however THEY are obliged to provide you will pixilated footage. Any problems go to the information commissioner www.ico.org.uk. I would advise contacting the police via their website once you have full details and extent of the injury. Definitely backed up by a medical report and further visits if (hopefully not) further injuries may become apparent. Not to scare you but serious head injuries can cause personality changes.
If the police or CPS decide not to bring a charge you have a victim.s right to review of this decision which has a 3 month deadline. This is crucial as it has the potential to re open an investigation. More detail is on the CPS website. If the CPS make this decision tou will need the police unique reference number. However equally the police can decide not to pursue, in which case you need to ask them for for the information to request a review. Victim support can also advise. Can't stress this enough but get everything in writing. Be careful that they may try to reduce a charge to a summary only offence so they can tick a box. These have to be done within six months which can happen if they do not have medical evidence to submit for the more serious charges of ABH or GBH. The CPS can apply for a hearing to adjourned pending medical reports.
Good luck

don't rely on the school not to cover their own arse, the best outcome for your DD is not necessarily the best outcome for the school.

This this this.

Schools don't want bad press. Our local secondary tried to stop a parent from calling the police when their kid was badly attacked in the school toilets. They wanted it all brushed under the carpet and "move on." The parent did involve the police but it came to nothing due to "lack of evidence/witnesses". nothing to do with the Headmaster being good golf buddies with the police High Heidjun of course.

Also agree, head assaults need checked over!

We had the same thing happen to dd at around the same age

The two girls grabbed and tore up her school bag,ripped her skirt,tights and knickers off (in front of a group of boys) and punched her

The school didn't even bother to ring me until near hometime (they told me it was under their control)

(It had happened during first break-they fully expected her to walk home alone on the same route as these girls-i had her picked up)

They also tried to tell me I wasn't 'allowed' to call the police as they where dealing with it

Thankfully my dad (who was next to me) saw red and told me I had to ring them,so I did (I wasn't thinking clearly)

Long story short the two girls ended up getting expelled,court,a fine and a record (both are now in prison as adults)

The schools plan of action was to send all the children involved home,call in the parents (fat lot of good that would have done-the apples don't fall far from that tree-one of the mothers used to bully me at school) and have a word with the girls once the heat had passed-I fucked that up by calling the police and pressing charges-school tried to twist it and stick up for these bitches to the police but failed ss it was all caught on cctv

Have a word my arse-school where scared of the parents

Thankfully nobody had filmed it as far as I know (bar the cctv)

Do not trust the school-call the police and take their advice

My own experience with my own DC is that school don't really take action. With my Ds I kept a record of all my interactions with the school and eventually asked to see their records as per the school policy - there weren't any surprise surprise. I ended up calling the police after one particular incident and only then did the school take any action. The police visited the other students involved at their homes and the bullying was proven.

Try and make notes of what the school says to you. Make it clear you that you intend to pursue calling the police.

Op think you've had a name change fail to @SmallBlueDinosaur ?

You’re doing the right thing waiting for the school to get back to you, although I’d expect this to happen fairly quickly.

You could ask if there’s a school liaison police officer who could be involved but involving the police is likely to lead to nothing. At the school I’m at there was a serious assault of two boys on another (the victim lost consciousness). Four months on the perpetrators have not been interviewed by police and the police have said it’s not a priority for them, as much more serious crimes have come in in the meantime and they don’t have the capacity to pursue this case. The boys were permanently excluded and that’s another reason the police took no action as they said the boys had been punished already.
The perpetrators are now at other schools but I can’t imagine they’ve learnt their lesson at all.

I mentioned to log online so you have written details that you can screenshot.

💯 this. You need the facts to proceed. You are playing a blinder @RainInNovember

Irrespective of schools punishment it's best to go to police and charge them with assault. Nip it once and for all. Hope she is ok?

Now you see I always thought if I'd been attacked and punched etc by two people, I wouldn't get told to calm down and examine my own behaviour to see if I'd asked for it and then I'd call the police. But clearly I was wrong ...

Hope @SmallBlueDinosaur has a big rug to sweep it all under.

To be fair, I’d probably put everything in writing, call the police and ask for a meeting with the head teacher and head of year today. I wouldn’t be sending my daughter back until I’d received a satisfactory response. Basically I’d want both children who performed the assault expelled and antisocial behaviour orders applied.

Yes 🙈

If you report your posts, they can either delete them or change your username for you if you want.

Well done OP, don't be pushed into anything you don't want to do right now.

I too think it's best to speak to the school first.

You don't need to wait to see if the school has contacted the police. Contact them yourself.

There isn't a limit to how many people can report an incident.

The school will want to minimise it. Take control and phone the police.

Retired secondary school teacher here.

As others have said, call the police. If the school has a decent SLT, they'll be glad that you did so.

Please call your daughter rather than messaging

the school will allow her to take the call

and talk to her, get her perspective on events before you hear the school’s

Involve the police but don’t expect much from them. My DS is 13 and he was attacked at the start of this year by a boy from school whilst he was walking home, completely unprovoked. Police came and took a statement, they went and spoke to the boy who attacked DS but because he was only 12/13, they said they wouldn’t take any further action. They don’t like prosecuting kids so don’t expect anything like that.

This particular boy had just been expelled from the school at the time so the school couldn’t do anything. I’d expect your DD’s school to exclude the students for a period. I hope your DD is ok.

Sad how many doubt the school’s effectiveness

I absolutely trust my children’s school to handle such a distressing incident really well.